Long time no post...! You're probably thinking, where on earth have you been? That's a valid question. The last post from me was in February. I feel embarrassed, disappointed, and also sad. This blog was my baby back in college, and I completely let this platform go down the drain. To be honest, I've made "welcome back" posts but have never published them. This time is different though. I feel like I'm getting a better grasp at the whole time management thing and being inspired. I want to get back into my weekly posts, I just need to be more "strict" on myself.

Since it's been 8 months, lets catch you up on what you have missed. Well let's start with the biggest change. I moved! I'm no longer living in an apartment. I'm now a proud renter of a 3 bedroom townhouse. It's so much more spacious! To be honest, the little things make me excited about my new place. The fact that all my silverware fits in one drawer and the fact that I can bring in groceries from my car to my house in less than a minute is great!

With a bigger space comes new things, am I right? For the loft, I really want to make it a "lounge area" with an office. So, I'm on the hunt for a couch, coffee table, and a desk. I haven't really been seriously shopping, but I'm keeping my eyes pealed. I know I'll find the pieces eventually! Maybe one of these days, I'll have to do some home décor posts.

The next biggest change has been my job. I'm currently at the same company that I started with right after graduation. However, I have a new title. I could not feel more blessed for this opportunity. This position is exactly my perfect match. I'm working with data in excel all-day-every-day. For some, this would be their worst nightmare. I've learned though, this is what I love doing. It really challenges your mind and keeps you thinking.

Finally, the last big change is my NEW CAR! I made my first "big girl" purchased, and got an SUV. It's not really that new to me anymore, but it still is something to be proud of. I'm probably the world's fastest car shopper. I knew I wanted an SUV and knew what my monthly payment would be. I searched online at the local dealers and found an Equinox that checked everything off my list. The next week, I went into the dealer and showed him the model/year I wanted. A couple minutes later, I test drove the vehicle and decided this was it. And that's the end to the that story. Guess you can say, I'm not hard to please.

So, I guess that's it for all that I need to catch you up on. I've been posting a lot more on Instagram, so feel free to follow me there and keep me accountable. I would link my outfit for you all, but this is an oldie but a goodie. It one of my go-to's for this time of year.

Don't you just love when you have to come up with a new photo location on the spot? I planned on taking these photos someplace else, but turns out it was prime to plow the parking lot when I showed up. So, I had to come up with a new spot with a snap of the fingers (hence the ugly background). Oh and of course the wind had to be blowing at full force. So that's why I only had a few photos to choose from. That's just your average blogger problems though!

The first time I saw the whole lingerie styled for the daytime trend, I thought it was the strangest, and sort of sluttiest thing. Somehow though it has grown on me. I think it's the delicate lace that attracts me. It has this feminine look that looks elegant with a tad bit of sexy. I styled this white, lace bodysuit in more of a modest way. I paired a nude tank top undeath and threw on a black blazer. I find that these two additions make it more daytime appropriate.


I've seen Amber Fillerup & Aspyn Ovard do these "12 Things" posts and I think they're just the cutest posts. They're great to just empty your mind when you have a million things on them. So I thought I would copy them and do the same!

1. My first bullet obviously has to be about Aspyn and Amber, since they "started" this whole trend. First off, Amber just had her little baby girl Frankie. She is just a doll and her kids adore the little baby. Second off, I can't believe Aspyn is PREGNANT! I never thought I would be so excited for a "celebrity" to be pregnant. I'm secretly hoping it's going to be a girl. Can't wait until they reveal the gender. I can't get enough of her and Parker's pregnancy content.

2. I just rewatched the clip from 90210 when Liam proposes to Annie. It's just as cute and heartwarming as I remember. Secretly hoping that'll be me sometime soon! After watching the clip, I had the urge to rewatch 90210. Unfortunately, it's no longer on Netflix. Instead, I'm currently starting Gossip Girl over. Call me Basic, but Dan and Serena are the cutest couple on the planet

3. Speaking of TV shows, I need a new recommendation! The only tv show I have to watch is The Bachelor, and that's almost over. Leave your suggestions down below. I need something to look forward to after work lol.

4. I stayed in bed until noon today, and I have no regrets! Sometimes you just need those lazy mornings where all you do is waste your time with your phone in your hand.

5. My fake plant obsession is becoming a huge problem. I just bought a new one from TJ maxx and named it Henry. (My boyfriend and I name all our plants because we're weird like that). I just went to Target and saw the cutest banana leaf one for $40. I'm contemplating buying it, even though I have no room for it.

6. I've been feeling like a kid lately because of all the "kids" snacks I've been purchasing. My pantry is stocked with rice krispy treats, fruits snacks, and those breadstix that you dunk in that fake cheese. Who needs healthy snacks when this stuff is 10x better?

7. I've been completely failing at my New Year's Resolutions. Is it too late to start over? I just need to find the motivation again, and push myself.

8. Speaking of snacks, my new favorite cliff bar is the Cool Mint and chocolate one. It tastes just like Thin Mints. What more can you want? So long, White Chocolate Macadamia….there's a new guy in town!

9. My skin hasn't been looking too bad lately, but I keep f*cking it up by sleeping with my makeup one. I get so lazy, and sometimes have no motivation. It seems like an okay idea in the moment, but I regret it everytime. One of these days I'll do an updated skincare routine post. I've added in some products to my routine that are game changers.

10. I'm in a cooking rut. I have cookbooks, but still seem to lack inspiration for new meals. Instead, I've been cooking just the usual. Leave your favorite meals down below in the comments.

11. As much as 90 degree weather stresses me out (I hate sweating lol), I'm looking forward to the warmer weather, so my boyfriend and I can play basketball outside at night. I love spending some quality time together at night.

12. Waking up for work has been a stuggle lately. I used to be so great at waking up early to ensure that I get there at a decent time. This past month though, I've been hitting snooze on my alarm too much. I need to get back into my routine, so I can feel better about myself.

Let's talk about my favorite show: The Bachelor. Have al you ladies been keeping up with the show? I look forward to the show every week. Not gonna lie, I'm going to be a little sad when the show is over. How are we already on hometown dates this week? That means there's only a couple episodes left before the finale. I've heard people talking about how they know who wins, but I refuse to spoil it for myself. Since the beginning episode, I've had my pick on Hannah G. She's got a similar personality to me: reserved and quite at times. I hoping she'll be picked, but I can't be too certain being that there isn't much footage or development shown on their relationship. I guess we'll have to wait and see! Who's your pick?

Enough about the Bachelor, let's talk about the outfit! Grey has become my new favorite color. Normally I'm all about black and white, but there is something so much more fresh and inviting about grey. I never thought I would be saying this. I always thought of grey as a boring color, and more of a manly color. Now, I think it's a beautiful neutral color. I love it paired with white, especially for home décor.

What's great about the color grey is that you can pair it with multiple different washes of jeans. I find that black doesn't always look that great with dark denim; it seems to just blend in too much. Grey on the other hand looks great styled with dark, medium, and light denim. In this post I paired my sweater with this super light wash pair of distressed jeans. Let me just start off by saying that I have been on the hunt for the perfect pair of light, distressed jeans. I have a dark pair, but sometimes they can look a little bit too edgy. Light pairs of jeans on the other hand give off a more casual vibe. I can pair them with a tshirt some tennis shoes, and be out the door. Plus, I think pink looks more put together with light denim. I'm mentioning this, because right now, all that's on my Instagram is pink.... I'm not even kidding!

Anyways, so I've been on the hunt for the perfect pair for quite some time. I've seen a couple pairs at American Eagle, but they're always a little bit too pricy for me. They're always having deals of "buy one get one 50% off." It seems like an okay deal, but then I look at the price tag, and orginally priced, the jeans are like $60. Like I said, I'm more of a deal kind of gal. So, you'll always be finding me in the sale section of American Eagle. Normally their sale price for jeans are $29.99, but the other week when I went, they were $19.99. I was super excited! Of course I was only able to find one pair (the one that I'm wearing). Ladies let me tell you, it's a struggle being short and tiny....there's never anything in my size.

I will admit that these jeans are slightly a little too small. Since they're super high waisted, they fit really snug. And when I sit down, they just dig into me. So I'm a little disappointed because knowing me, I won't want to be uncomfortable. Therefore I won't wear them all that much. They'll probably just be worn for photos. Gosh...do I sound like a typical Instagrammer or what!?

I've owned a shaggy sweater similar to this one in the past, but it was a cardigan, and it was white. My boyfriend said that I looked like a polar bear in it! I never really got much use out of it though because it was super heavy. I always felt like it was weighing me down. Needless to say, I got rid of it. I am super excited though about this sweater. It's more of a lightweight material so you can totally transition it into spring. It comes in Pink too, if you're wanting to be a little more girly! It has a wider neckline, so you can wear it normal or off the shoulder. If you have one of those super popular Free People bralettes, that would look adorable paired underneath.

It's been a little over a week since Valentine's Day, and I've realized I've never reveal what the bf and I did to celebrate. Let's rewind to last year's Valentine's Day. I had to work late that night (crazy to think last year I was working part time as a social media coordinator). By the time we were ready to go out to dinner, it was roughly 6:30. The soonest available time the restaurant had a table was at 8:30.....ridiculous, am I right!? Needless to say, we did not go to that restaurant. So for this year, we didn't want to make that mistake again. Instead we went out to eat Friday night at a steak restaurant. Yes, celebrating later does take away the magic of the day slightly, but it beats the wait to get a seat! The food was ah-mazing! And the atmosphere was so serene and romantic. We were able to get a seat right away, which was a plus! We were seated by the window, which was freezing, and all we could see was a big mound of snow. I'm sure it is beautiful in the summer though. Can't wait to go back!

Thursday night on Vday, we made burgers and I brought home cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. We went a little exotic and tried the celebration cheesecake. It's supposed to be similar to a "birthday cake". It's definitely different from your typical cheesecake, but  I would recommend it. And of course we exchanged gifts. My boyfriend is definitely not the type to go all out on the presentation. He told me to close my eyes because he didn't wrap my gifts. When I opened my eyes, there was a puppy sitting next to me on the couch. For the slight second, I thought it was real......but it's just a stuffed animal. I posted a picture of her on my Instagram Story. She's the cutest Vday dog with a heart around her eye and a rose in her nose. It brings me back to our first valentine's day together when he got me cute little bear. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but of course I've been cuddling with her every night....and so has my bf! Her name is Molly, for all those that are wondering. We'll jokingly ask each other "Did you take Molly out today?". We're just quirky like that.  My mom has even texted the other day asking how our new puppy is doing. This is getting a little out of hand lol. I forgot to mention that around Molly's neck was a necklace from Jared. It was a dainty, gold key necklace. I'm so surprised that he remembered I've been wanting to replace my lost key necklace. What a sweetheart! I'm soooo incredibly lucky! Valentine's Day is just my favorite, because you just feel extra lovey-dovey, and it's hard not to smile all day!

This twopiece set brings me back to my good old days of working as a buyer at my school's boutique last year. Mauve was definitely one of our go to colors. And of course we were all about the comfy loungewear sets. Our assortment also had  wayyy too many distressed pieces. That's just what was popular last year.

This mauve set makes me feel athletic, but cute at the same time! I'm a sucker for athletic clothes with stripes. I don't know what it is. Not gonna lie this set is a little outside my comfort zone. You have to have confidence wearing it especially since it's a little cropped. It's definitely more of a statement piece than your typical leggings and sweatshirt type look. Of course though  just like any other set, it's super fun to mix the top and bottoms together. I wore the cropped sweatshirt the other day with just basic black leggings, and it looked equally as adorable. I'm sure a basic black cropped top would look adorable as well!  If you're more of a neutral kind of gal, the set comes in black as well! I've styled the set with the classic Adidas Superstars. Are these even still in style? To be honest, I'm not sure. I still love them though! I'm tempted to get a new pair because mine are looking a little dingy.

Remember when I said my New Years resolution was to be more consistent on blogging....well that goal clearly has gone out the window. I could make an excuse that I don't have enough time in the day. While, I would like to say that's the case, that's not entirely true. Sure, I don't have as much time during the week being that I get home at 6 and by the time I cook dinner, it's after 7, but I could honestly make time. Instead of falling asleep on the couch at 8:30 pm (I know...I'm a "grandma"), I could easily make a post. Or instead of wasting my morning away on Sundays by scrolling through social media, I could be planning my posts for the week. I think my problem is that I don't have a good routine down. Mark my words, by the end of February, I'm going to be organize....LET'S HOPE!

Enough with my excuses! It's not like I haven't been "working" on blogging. Every weekend, I've been taking outfit pictures. The problem is that I've only been posting them to Instagram (So if you aren't already following me on Instagram, you definitely should : @katekoutures.) I guess what I'm trying to get across is that I have all these outfit photos from like October up until now. It may seem a little pointless to post them now, being that we're going into Spring. However, I think it would be a waste to not post them. So, I think what I'm going to do is post an "archived" outfit once a week, and my other post for the week will be a "current one". I hope y'all don't mind that.

These photos were clearly taken before Christmas, as there are still leaves on the ground, and I'm clearly wearing shoes with no socks. 2018 was the year for slip on shoes for me. I loved loafers like the ones in the pictures, but I also loved Steve Madden slip-ons. They're just so comfy, and definitely an easy, out-the-door kind of shoe. At first I thought they were hideous, and "grandma" like. But then they grew on me. I'm even going to go as far to say that they're going to continue to be my most love style of shoe for 2019. I just bought a paid of leopard Steve Madden slip-ons this past month, and I'm obsessed!

Lately, I've been really into vertical stripes - hence my shirt. And of course I am still loving the cold shoulder trend.